


Outward Appearances

by mggislife2789



Category: Criminal Minds, Spencer Reid - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Money
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-20 07:10:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10657503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mggislife2789/pseuds/mggislife2789
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their original stories. This is only for fun. It's where my brain goes after the credits roll. No copyright intended. Better safe than sorry. ;)





	Outward Appearances

She wasn’t the type of woman any of Spencer’s friends imagined him dating. Most imagined he’d meet a doctor or a lawyer or some other high-powered, insanely intelligent woman in their line of work and eventually they’d settle down. Instead, Y/N had asked him out while she was working in her part-time job in a book store, which she had in addition to working from home. It was a different way of life, but it seemed to work for her.

From what they could tell, she was one for the finer things in life - walking around with an expensive designer bag, enough items of clothing to clothe two people, and enough books to fill a book store of her own. “That part makes sense,” JJ had laughed after meeting her for the first time. “But…I don’t know, something about her and you together doesn’t make sense to me. It’s like she’s pretending to be someone she’s not.”

“Well, we have only been going out for a month,” Spencer replied, “But she’s sweet, and funny, and beautiful…so I guess I’ll see where it goes.”

“Just be careful,” JJ said. “I don’t want you to get hurt. You gonna bring her out this weekend? We’d like to meet her.”

“I can ask,” he replied, waiting around the round table for Hotch to come back into the room. “She’d probably love it.” JJ wanted to take Henry on a private tour of one of the museums that he’d been obsessed with nearby, and she’d invited anyone who wanted to join them to come along. It was an expensive tour. For a private one, it was $150 per person, but JJ would only be taking Henry and it was his birthday present, so she’d decided the price could be excused. Although it was expensive, Spencer, Derek, Emily and Penelope had all agreed to go too. “I’ll ask her when she comes over later.”

—-

After a long, arduous day of mountains upon mountains of paperwork, the team was finally able to leave and Spencer found himself excitedly waiting at home for Y/N to come over after her shift. “Hey, Spence,” she said. “How was work?”

“Boring today,” he sighed. “How was your shift?”

“Great,” she laughed, bending down to give him a kiss. “Almost no one came in today, so I got to read for most of the day.”

Sounded like a great day to him. “Are you doing anything this weekend?” he asked. They’d only gone so far as tonight in terms of their plans for the week.

“No. You gonna be home? We could do a movie.” There was a new superhero movie she’d been dying to see. He kind of felt bad when he suggested something else, but he definitely wanted to be there for his godson’s birthday. 

But the tour they were going on was something she’d definitely be interested in. “My godson, Henry, his birthday is over the weekend and JJ is planning on taking him to a local museum for a private tour. You’re invited. Wanna come?” 

Y/N hesitated, knowing how expensive those things happened to be. Despite appearances, she didn’t have all that much money. She made enough to get by - make rent, pay bills, eat and maybe, occasionally do something fun. The nice things she had were gifts courtesy of family and friends on special occasions. “Ummm, it sounds fun. How much is it?”

She panicked at the price. She really liked Spencer and wanted to get to know the people he loved, but that was a steep price to pay considering her actual income. “I think I might skip out on that,” she said. She couldn’t justify the price - not when she had rent coming up.

“What? You don’t wanna go?” he asked, He seemed hurt. He really did want her to get to know his friends, especially JJ; she’d been his best friend for years. “I thought you’d like the idea.”

A lump had formed in her throat but she swallowed it. “I do. It sounds fun. But it’s really expensive.”

“Well, you have the money don’t you?” he asked confused - the look of confusion transforming into one of annoyance. He must’ve thought she had more of an income than she actually did. “Y/N, I really want you to get to know my friends.”

She sighed. She was going to have to clue him in on her finances. They were quite different from his. “I do too,” she replied. “But despite what you see here, I don’t actually have a lot of money. I make enough to live.” 

She motioned toward her bag on the counter. “Courtesy of my parents last Christmas.” 

Then, she pointed to her designer jeans. “Birthday from my parents.” 

“My two friends from high school for every birthday since I’ve known them,” she said, pointing toward the bookshelf. “I don’t make the kind of money that you do Spence. It’s really not you. I like you - a lot. Like a lot, a lot. It’s just out of the realm of what I can afford.”

It was like a lightbulb had gone off in his head. Whenever she decided where they were going to go on a date, it was always a cheaper place, because she didn’t want him to always be paying. “I misunderstood,” he said honestly. “I made a judgement based on what you had and I didn’t even think that someone else had bought these things for you. I’m sorry.” Everyone made judgements occasionally, but at least he saw that he was wrong and acknowledged it. “What if I pay for your ticket? Would you come then?”

Although he didn’t mean it, that kind of made her feel like a charity case and she told him as much. “What if I pay $50 bucks for it and you pay the rest? I can swing the $50. I’ll just have to cut back on coffees out for the next couple of weeks.”

“Deal,” he said sweetly, walking over to you and wrapping his arms around your neck. “Going forward, I’ll try to keep what you said in mind.” He’d picked a couple more expensive restaurants recently - and she’d paid for herself despite the expense. “I won’t have you going broke for me.”

“Thanks, babe.”


End file.
